‘We will fix everything together,’ Tusk vows after Polish parliament votes in favour of making him new prime minister – as it happened (2024)

• The conservative government of Mateusz Morawiecki lost a confidence vote in the Polish parliament, opening the way for a coalition under the leadership of Donald Tusk to take office this week and putting an end to eight years of rule by the Law and Justice (PiS) party.

• After Morawiecki lost the confidence vote, Tusk was officially nominated to serve as Poland’s next prime minister.

• Poland’s parliament then voted in favour of Tusk as the country’s prime minister. 248 MPs voted in favour, while 201 voted against.

• In a policy speech this morning, Morawiecki called for a “Europe of homelands, not a Europe without homelands.”

• Speaking in parliament after winning a vote to become prime minister, Tusk thanked Poles and said his new government will “right the wrongs” so that everyone “can feel at home.”

• The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, congratulated Tusk, saying “Ukraine and Poland’s future lies in unity”.

• The European parliament president, Roberta Metsola, said she looks forward “to working together for a prosperous Poland and a stronger Europe.”

• The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she looks forward to seeing Tusk at a summit of European leaders in Brussels this week

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More congratulations are pouring in.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, has said she looks forward to seeing Donald Tusk at a summit of European leaders in Brussels this week.

“Your experience and strong commitment to our European values will be precious in forging a stronger Europe, for the benefit of the Polish people,” she said.

“I look forward to working together for a prosperous Poland and a stronger Europe,” the European parliament president, Roberta Metsola, wrote, calling Donald Tusk “a dear friend”.

Donald Tusk is celebrating this evening.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, has congratulated Donald Tusk.

“Ukraine and Poland’s future lies in unity, mutual assistance, and strategic partnership in order to defeat our common enemy,” he said.

Speaking in the Polish parliament after winning a vote to become prime minister, Donald Tusk thanked Poles and said his new government will “right the wrongs” so that everyone “can feel at home”.

The incoming leader said:

I want to thank Polish women and men. Thank you, Poland, this is a wonderful day, not for me, but for all those who have deeply believed over these years that things will get even better, that we will chase away the darkness, that we will chase away evil. This is what happened.

He added:

We’ll fix everything together. From tomorrow, we will be able to right the wrongs so that everyone, without exception, can feel at home.

Law and Justice’s Jarosław Kaczyński, meanwhile, told Tusk – without providing evidence - “You are a German agent.”

Guardian contributor Katarzyna Piasecka reported from Warsaw

Poland’s parliament has voted in favour of Donald Tusk as the country’s new prime minister.

248 MPs voted in favour, while 201 voted against.

Tusk, a well-known figure on the European stage, previously served as Poland’s prime minister between 2007 and 2014. He is also a former president of the European Council and former head of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP).

His new government is now expected to take office later this week.

As Poland awaits a new government, European commissioner for transport Adina Vălean issued a statement welcoming the opening of one border crossing point with Ukraine but said the commission remains concerned but others that remain shut.

I welcome the reopening of Dorohusk–Yahodyn border crossing point for freight transport, the most significant border crossing point between Poland and Ukraine.

Its blockade since 6 November had significant consequences for Ukraine, Poland, and the EU, but first and foremost, for all the drivers caught up in the blockade.

As I mentioned last week, the commission has engaged directly with protesters and the national authorities on numerous occasions over the past month and proposed concrete measures to facilitate the border crossing process between Ukraine and Poland.

At the same time, we remain concerned that the other three border crossing points between Poland and Ukraine continue to be blocked.

It is vital that relevant national and local authorities take the necessary measures to ensure goods can flow through the EU’s external borders.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said after his meeting with Hungary’s Péter Szijjártó that a political decision on opening EU accession talks with Kyiv is “well-reasoned” and that dialogue will continue.

The Ukrainian minister wrote on social media:

I emphasised that the political decision on this matter is well-reasoned and timely. Ukraine and Hungary share a common European future. We will continue our dialogue ahead of the European Council summit later this week.

Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, met with Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba today for the first time since Russia’s full-scale the invasion.

The meeting, which took place in Brussels on the margins of a gathering of EU foreign ministers, comes at a tense time, as Budapest continues to block planned new funding for Ukraine and the opening of EU accession talks with Kyiv.

Adding to the awkwardness is the fact that Szijjártó is the only European minister who still regularly visits Russia and meets with senior Russian officials.

In a Facebook post following the meeting with Kuleba, Szijjártó did not indicate that Budapest is budging on the issue of accession talks. Notably, he did not mention the issue of funding for Kyiv.

The Hungarian minister said:

The proposal for a decision is unprepared, and the European Commission has practically no idea what the impact of Ukraine’s membership of the EU would be on the whole community.

Szijjártó also raised the issue of minority rights, after Ukraine approved reforms addressing ongoing concerns.

We also discussed naturally the minority law, and I told my colleague that Hungary’s expectation is a return to the 2015 situation.

Speaking to Hungarian media, Szijjártó repeated the Hungarian position that the EU should have a strategic debate about the bloc’s future relationship with Kyiv, and that it is not possible to open accession negotiations.